Student Transition, Advising, Retention System (STARS)

The purpose of this report is to look at what we are currently doing to retain and graduate students and to offer some suggestions about initiatives we may wish to pursue in order to improve both retention and graduation. 

STUDENTS:

Where we are:

Fall-to-Fall Retention Rate:

Based on data drawn from the Consortium for Student Retention Data Exchange (CSRDE), our Fall-to-Fall retention rate is about 74%.  With eighteen campuses providing data, the average retention rate is 76.88%.  The highest rate (at SLO) is 89%, and the lowest rate is 69% at Dominguez Hills.

There appears to be a strong correlation between the percentage of non-white students and the retention rate.  Dominguez Hills has the highest percentage of non-white students (89%) and the lowest retention rate.  Cal State Los Angeles and Bakersfield both have higher percentages of non-white students (74% and 54% respectively) compared to our 52%, and they both have a one-year retention rate of 77%.  This is, however, a complex issue, and Walter Hawkins pointed out that “the relationship to retention and non-white students is more related to the proportion of the three primary non-white groups (African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian) than it is to just large numbers of non-white students.  Please note that our Hispanic students maintain continuation rates above the campus mean.”

We have had one-year rates of 78% in 1998 and 2000.  In the most recent draft of the CSU Accountability Process report, we projected a goal of 79% for 2002-2003 and 80% for 2004-2005.  Since retention rates are not linear, a reasonable goal would be to maintain a continuation rate of 78% as a rolling average over a four-year period.

Graduation Rate:

Studies done by Walter Hawkins in the Office of Research and Policy Analysis show that the best timeframe for determining our graduation rate is seven (7) years.  Furthermore, as you can see on the chart, we have shown significant improvement in our graduation rate over time.  In the attached study, you can see that for first-time freshmen, the seven-year rate has gone from 29.47% for the Fall 1988 cohort to 40.22% for the Fall 1993 cohort.  We could reasonably expect to achieve a seven-year rate of 44% over the next five years with a strong institutional commitment to improving the graduation rate.

There has also been an improvement in the graduation rate for transfer students although it has been a more modest increase.  The seven-year rate for transfer students was 54.37% for the 1988 cohort and almost 59% for the 1993 cohort.

Below are some factors that we need to take into consideration as we think about reasonable goals for retention and graduation.  To the extent that our students have multiple factors associated with attrition, we will need to recognize that greater efforts will need to be made to counter those factors.  Conversely, we can look at the factors associated with retention as opportunities to pursue.

Factors associated with attrition:

Being undeclared

Enrollment in developmental math or English

Experiencing illness or personal problems

Failure to complete remediation in one year

Low GPA at the end of the first academic year at the university

Low high school GPA

Wanting to attend another institution

Working full-time

Factors associated with student retention

Academic engagement

Continuous full-time enrollment

Having parents that attended college

High high school GPA

High quality advising

Institutional commitment (student to institution)

Involvement in university activities

Prior success (transfer students)

Rigorous high school curriculum

TRANSITION

One of the factors associated with attrition is low high school GPA.  The transition elements of our Retention Plan focus pre-matriculation programs and post-matriculation programs.  The pre-matriculation programs focus on improving high school preparation.  The post-matriculation programs focus on helping students make the transition from the world of secondary education to the university.

Pre-matriculation programs:

Here is a list of programs being offered by CSUSB that aim to increase the college going rate and/or to improve the level of preparation of our incoming students.  A fuller report on these programs was provided at an earlier meeting of this body.

Program Name                        Grade(s) served

America Reads/America Counts      3-6

Collaborative Academic Preparation Initiative (AAP)             11-12

Educational Opportunity Program (EOP)   9 through 12

EOP Summer Bridge                        conditionally admitted students

GEAR UP Inland Empire 7 through 12

High School University Program 11-12

I’m Going to College      4th

Intensive Math Preparation (IMP)   admitted students who need math remediation

Precollegiate Academic Development program  4-12

Project Upbeat                 6-8

University Awareness Program  9-10

Upward Bound               9-12

These programs represent a significant institutional commitment to making students in our region aware of what it takes to go to college and to helping students gain the skills necessary to succeed at the university.

Post-matriculation programs:

Once students are on-campus, there are a host of programs that help them in making the transition to the university.

Educational Opportunity Program (EOP)

Faculty/Student Mentoring Program (FSMP)

First-Year Seminar

Honors Program

New Student Orientation

Residence Life programs for students living on campus

Student Assistance in Learning (SAIL)

Student Life programs including campus clubs

To see the impact of some of these programs, Mr. Hawkins prepared a report called “Undergraduate Studies Services & Programs Impact On Fall 2000 First-time Freshmen Fall-To-Fall Persistence” in January of this year. 

Outcomes Updated

            This brief update is a summary of the study conducted last spring to determine if participation in the services provided by Undergraduate Studies’ programs impacted student persistence. The table below displays the results of the retention of Fall 2000 first-time freshmen one year later. The one-year continuation rate for the cohort as a whole was 78.61%. The rate for non-participants was 70.68%.  The rate for students who participated in at least one program in Undergraduate Studies was 81.57%. The persistence rate for participants was 15.40% higher than the one-year rate for non-participants.

Participation In Undergraduate Studies Programs & Services
First-Time Freshmen Fall 2000
Fall-To-Fall Persistence
Table 1.
	UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES NUMBER						UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES PERSISTENCE RATE
TERM Enrolled	No Participation		Participated		Total		No Participation		Participated		Total
Fall 2000	324		868		1,192		100.00		100.00		100.00
Winter 2001	280		825		1,105		86.42		95.05		92.70
Spring 2001	270		789		1,059		83.33		90.90		88.84
Fall 2001	229		708		937		70.68		81.57		78.61
Source: USLAN, ERSS

ADVISING

One of the activities most often mentioned as having an impact on student retention and graduation is high quality advising.  The advising model on our campus is a split model with nearly all new students getting some advising from the office of Advising and Academic Services.  Students who have not declared a major, those on academic probation, and those on contract, continue to be seen in that office.  When students in these at-risk categories, as well as students who in good standing, leave campus, we also need to gather information from them about why they left.  Thus, an important goal of our retention plan will be to develop a systematic means of tracking students who leave.  Additionally, in Undergraduate Studies, the Educational Opportunity Program and the SAIL program both have counselors who provide academic advising for students in their respective programs.  The majority of advising is done in the Colleges, and there will be more about their specific plans and programs shortly.  One of the goals of our advising plan is to provide all students with advising that is accurate, consistent, timely, and accessible.

Funding for STARS has allowed us to develop a robust Advising web site.  Among the features on that site is a faculty advising handbook.  We are also developing a student handbook.  Another goal of our advising plan is make more faculty and students aware of the resources available to them for advising.

New freshmen are strongly encouraged to attend Freshman Advising Day.  One of the recommendations of this report is that Freshman Advising Day be reexamined to consider how it can more effectively provide students with a more in-depth understanding of the path from matriculation to graduation and second forge a stronger institutional commitment within new students.

With funds obtained from the President’s 20% funds, Undergraduate Studies has added a new counselor in Advising and Academic Services.  Her duties are to work with all undeclared students and at-risk students.  Over the course of an academic year, undeclared students will attend multiple advising sessions designed to ensure that they know how to select classes, understand the catalog, and are familiar with campus resources such as the Career Center, the Learning Center, and so on.

We are in the process of developing an on-line early warning system that would allow faculty to identify students at risk of failure early enough for intervention to make a positive difference.  This is being modeled on a similar system that has successfully aided EOP students for many years.

College-based Initiatives

College of Arts and Letters

• The College of Arts and Letters has established the following “threshold requirements for advising:
• All departments will require students to have periodic advisement.

• Enforcement by automatic registration holds for every major.

• Holds released by departments after advising.

The following table summarizes their plan:

Dept.	Advising	Req.
Art	Under development
Communications	Upon completion of 70+ units	Yes
English	Upon completion of 70+ units	Yes
Foreign Languages and Literatures	Annual	Varies
French	Quarterly	No
Spanish	Annually	Yes
Liberal Studies	PALS
Music	Quarterly	Yes
Philosophy	Annually	Yes
Theatre Arts	Quarterly	Yes

College of Business and Public Administration

The College of Business and Public Administration makes available an array of tools, personnel, and other resources, but the choice to take advantage of these resources is up to the individual student.  Among the resources made available are

The CBPA “Advising Navigator,” a 30 page booklet that provides an extensive overview of University and Administration program requirements etc.

Faculty and staff available to perform advising at key periods and throughout the school year

Active participation in Early Decision Day, Freshman Advising Day, Transfer Day, etc.

Their plan “focuses attention on four dimensions” and is quite detailed.  The four dimensions are

Advising for Incoming Students

            First-time Freshmen]

            Community College and other Transfer Students

Advising for Continuing Students

            Undeclared Concentration

            Concentration Identified and Declared

Advising Materials and Activities

            CBPA Advising Brochure

            Long-term Course Plans

            Faculty Advising

Activities Needed at the College and University Levels to Support the CBPA Advising and Retention Plan

Each of these is discussed in detail in the attached report at the end of this document.

College of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences has nine departments.  Six of these have some form of mandatory advising.  The following table summarizes their advising activities along with a brief mention of notable retention efforts that are explained in greater detail at the end of this report.

Dept.	Advising	Req.	Retention
Biology	Student initiated	No	Workshops, Web-site
Chemistry	Annual	Yes	Program Outline Sheet, 4-yr. program
Computer Science	Annual	No	Peer tutoring, Grant support, Help desk
Geology	Annual	Yes	4 and 2-yr. programs, web-site
Health Science	Annually	Yes	Letter to students on probation
Kinesiology	Quarterly	Yes
Mathematics	Annually	Yes	Grant support
Nursing	Quarterly	No	Peer tutoring, grant support
Physics	Quarterly	Yes	Student study room, Society of Physics Students, Grant support

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Advising and Retention plan for the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences centers around a specially designated Retention Advisor.  The table below identifies each department and its Retention Advisor.  Additionally, CSBS has designated an Assistant Dean for Student Programs position (Mike LeMay) who works closely with Advising and Academic Services, Admissions and Records, Career Development Center, etc. to coordinate with those programs and the departments, majors, and programs in CSBS.

Department	Retention Advisor
Anthropology	Dr. Peter Robertshaw
Economics	Dr. Jim Charkins
	(Dr. Par Asheghian for Career Advising)
Geography	Dr. Jim Mulvihill
History	Dr. Bob Blackey
Political Science	Dr. Michael LeMay
Psychology	Dr. Joanna Worthly
Social Science BA Program	Dr. Michael LeMay
Social Work	Dr. Nancy Mary
Sociology	Dr. John Heeren

Student Affairs Initiatives

I did not solicit descriptions of retention activities from the other divisions, and in retrospect, I should have done so and will for the next report on retention and graduation.  However, Lois Madsen, the newly appointed Acting Director of Financial Aid and her staff have met with me to discuss ways that they can help students succeed at the university and, at the same time, reduce the number of students who are in danger of losing financial aid because they have not made academic progress as defined by financial aid.  I will ask Lois to briefly describe what Financial Aid will be doing in this regard.

Next Steps

Work to develop a “students first” attitude that permeates the university.

Compile information about students who leave.

Develop a retention and graduation report that is disseminated at regular intervals.  This report must be easy to read and be widely shared as a way of emphasizing that improving retention is a shared responsibility of every division on campus.

Solicit input from all divisions on activities that impact retention.

Investigate the desirability and feasibility of regularly following up on students who are eligible to enroll but do not do so.  The Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management and Advising and Academic Services contacted such students for Fall quarter.

Develop programs and structures specifically aimed at improving the graduation rate for African-American students.  They graduate at a significantly lower rate than any other group of students on campus. 

Recognize the key role faculty play in retention and develop incentives and clear rewards for faculty who are most active in the retention of students.

Identify programs that have higher than average numbers of students who leave the university.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the First-Year Seminar.  If participation is associated with higher retention, investigate which students would most benefit from the program. 

Increase student participation in the First-Year Seminar.  Currently CSUSB matches the system average of about 10% of the freshman class enrolled in a first-year program. 

Prepare a report that compares the retention of students in the residence halls with non-resident students.

Develop a system for gaining information from students who leave and assign the responsibility for gathering that information to an office along with resources to do the job.

Develop and deliver reports to the colleges that will assist them in their retention efforts.

Details of College Plans

College of Business and Public Administration

Advising and Retention Plan

While the CBPA plans to assist students in all ways practical for advising and retaining, the CBPA acknowledges that students are ultimately responsible for their own success in their program of study and their career decisions.  While the CBPA will do what is possible to inform and to encourage students to make use of advising opportunities and resources, it is the students who must be self-motivated enough to utilize advising resources.  In this regard, the CBPA acknowledges that the advising process is voluntary for students rather than mandatory requirement.

The advising and retention plan of the College of Business and Public Administration focuses attention on four dimensions, and is organized accordingly in this document:

1.      Advising for Incoming Students

                        First Time Freshman

                        Community College and Other Transfer Students

2.      Advising for Continuing Students

                        Undeclared Concentration

                        Concentration Identified and Declared

3.      Advising Materials and Activities

                        CBPA Advising Brochure

                        Long-term Course Plans

                        Faculty Advising

4.      Activities Needed at the College and University Levels

to Support the CBPA Advising and Retention Plan

Advising for Incoming Students

First Time Freshmen (FTF)

1.      The CBPA Advising Navigator is distributed to interested applicants.  This brochure provides an extensive overview of University and Administration program requirements and other information to facilitate student achievement and retention (e.g., how to find an academic advisor, CBPA student club directory, CBPA faculty and staff directory, and instructions regarding course overloads and adding and dropping courses).  Students who apply to our program are encouraged to obtain a copy of the College’s Advising Navigator (see letter, “Congratulations on Your Decision to Apply” and the College’s Advising Navigator attached).  Moreover, faculty and peer advisors use the Advising Navigator as the basis for advising and a copy is provided to each student receiving advisement.  Also, Advising Navigators are available in the College office, each department office and in the CBPA Academic and Career Advising Center.  The CBPA prints and distributes approximately 1000 Advising Navigators per academic year, which is one indication that use of this advising and retention tool is widespread.

2.      Upon acceptance to the University, the Admissions Office sends students a letter encouraging them to obtain a copy of the College’s Advising Navigator.  Moreover, students are urged to contact the office of their designated concentration to obtain a faculty advisor.  The letter encourages students to seek assistance in preparing a program of study (see letter, “Congratulations on Your Acceptance to the University” attached).

3.      The College offers a formal advising session at Freshmen Advising Day.  During Freshmen Advising Day (or at a pre-registration informational session), students receive advising on General Education requirements (including ELM, EPT, and basic skill completion), lower and upper division business core courses, and available concentration programs.  First year students are informed of E.O. 665 requiring completion of all remedial courses within one year.  Also, a recommended course schedule for their first quarter is provided.  Additional information on college life, building a schedule, buying books, etc. is discussed (see the CBPA Freshmen Advising Day “PowerPoint” presentation attached).

4.      To increase retention, at Freshmen Orientation Day students are encouraged to participate in the Mentor program and to be assigned a knowledgeable peer to advise them.

5.      To increase retention, at Freshmen Orientation Day students are encouraged to participate in the Undergraduate Studies program to facilitate transition to college life.

6.      At Freshmen Orientation Day, students are encouraged to seek advisement from the Associate Dean or department faculty after four weeks of classes of their first quarter in order to review their progress and to plan course registration for the next quarter.

7.      Freshmen are encouraged to record their academic progress and course completion on the CBPA brochure to facilitate advising.

8.      To increase retention, students are encouraged to join and participate in student business clubs and organizations.

9.      Student business clubs facilitate the distribution of career information through guest speakers, on-site visits to employers and career nights.

Community College and Other Transfer Students

1.      The CBPA Advising Navigator is distributed to interested applicants.

Students who apply to our program are encouraged to obtain a copy of the College’s Advising Navigator (see letter, “Congratulations of Your Decision to Apply” attached).

2.      Upon acceptance to the University, the Admissions Office sends students a letter encouraging them to obtain a copy of the College’s Advising Navigator.  Moreover, students are urged to contact the office of their designated concentration to obtain a faculty advisor.  The letter encourages students to seek assistance in preparing a program of study (see letter, “Congratulations on Your Acceptance to the University” attached).

3.      The College offers a formal advising session at Transfer Day.  During Transfer Day (or at a pre-registration informational session), students receive advising on General Education requirements including upper division capstones and writing skills, lower and upper division business core courses, and concentration options.  Additional information on college life under the quarter system, building a schedule, buying books, etc. is discussed.

4.      Transfer students are encouraged to submit official transcripts of previous academic work so a credit summary can be produced.

5.      Students seeking course substitutions or waivers should seek advice from the appropriate department chair (e.g. to substitute a course in Marketing, students should seek approval from the Chair of Marketing Department).

6.      At Transfer Day, students are encouraged to seek advisement from department faculty in which their concentration is located, after four weeks of classes of the their first quarter in order to review their progress and to plan course registration for the next quarter.  At this time, transfer students should have received their credit summary facilitating comprehensive course planning.

7.      After transfer students receive a credit summary, they will seek advising from faculty within their chosen concentration.  If they are 'undeclared,' they may visit any faculty member or one of the Associate Deans.

8.      Transfer students are encouraged to develop a long-term course plan in consultation with concentration faculty.  A copy of projected course offerings for an entire academic year is available outside of each department office.

9.      Transfer students will record their academic progress and course completion on the CBPA brochure to facilitate advising.

10.  To increase retention, transfer students are encouraged to join and participate in student business clubs and organizations.

11.  Student business clubs will facilitate the distribution of career information through guest speakers, on-site visits to employers and career nights.

Advising for Continuing Students

Undeclared Concentration

Students who have not declared a concentration receive advising from one of the Associate Deans or any faculty member in the College.  The Associate Deans schedule approximately fifteen to twenty open office hours per week for academic advising (the hours are clearly posted outside the College Office (JB 278) and at the department offices). 

Concentration Identified and Declared

Students who have declared concentrations seek advising from faculty members in their chosen concentration.  This enables should to obtain course and program-specific advising.  Also, faculty members from the students’ concentrations are the most knowledgeable concerning career advice and counseling. Faculty office hours are clearly posted outside each department office.  Thus, there is generally a faculty member available for advising five days per week. 

The CBPA Academic and Career Advising Center (JB 105)

In fall 2002, the College of Business and Public Administration established the CBPA Academic and Career Advising Center.  In addition to the College’s faculty members and student mentors, representatives from the University’s Office of Career Development also staff this Center.  At present, the office is open five days per week (for a total of approximately thirty hours).  The CBPA is delighted to have a representative from the Office of Career Development at the Center for at least four hours per week.  Moreover, special hours for “resume review” have been established and a wide array of academic and career advising materials are available for students in the Center.

Due to the relatively late move-out of the Psychology Department at the start of fall 2002 from Jack Brown Hall (which occupied JB 105), the CBPA Academic and Career Advising Center has, as of October 2002, only been established for a couple of weeks.  In the forthcoming weeks, the College will begin publicizing the Center on our advising materials and during Freshmen Advising Day and Transfer Day.  We will also be referencing the Center on the CBPA website.

Advising Materials and Activities

CBPA Advising Brochure

1.      The CBPA Advising Navigator is revised annually to reflect current program requirements.

2.      Departments develop numerous materials about their programs that facilitate academic advisement (see the program advising materials attached).

Long-term Course Plans

Departments / disciplines develop and maintain suggested long-term course plans for appropriate concentrations, tracks, etc.  Outside each department office a list of planned course offering for an entire academic year is provided.

Faculty Advising

1.      Faculty are provided advising materials and trained on their use.

2.      Faculty are able to log on to SIS+ and access relevant student information including PAWS credit summaries.

3.      Faculty should prepare to advise students in the one week prior to early registration.

4.      Faculty office hours are posted in various locations around Jack Brown Hall to encourage students to visit faculty during mutually available times.  Faculty office hours are posted outside of each department office. 

Activities Needed at the College and University Levels to Support the CBPA Advising and Retention Plan

At the College Level

1.      Place the College’s Advising Brochure on the College’s Web page along with a FAQ section.

2.      Promotion of the CBPA Academic and Career Advising Center.

3.      Conduct general advising sessions each quarter paralleling information provided at Freshmen Orientation Day and Transfer Day.  Freshmen Orientation Day and Transfer Day provide students with an excellent introduction to College programs.  However, some students are unable to attend these sessions, while others may forget information presented.  Quarterly sessions would provide regular access to information concerning academic advisement.  It would also raise the visibility of academic advising within the College.  It is anticipated that the first session will be offer prior to registration for the fall, 2002 quarter.

At the University Level

1.      Development and distribution of student handbook.

2.      Development and distribution of faculty advising handbook.

3.      Web based access to student records

a.      Students can view their records using PIN access

b.      An on-line advising record (course plan) can be maintained

c.      On-line FAQ's are displayed to help students

d.      Faculty may view student records with security access

4.      Pre-requisites are programmed into the registration so students cannot avoid required course sequences or must seek special approval to enroll out-of-sequence.

College of Natural Sciences

 

Biology

Advising has been on a one-on-one basis where the students take the initiative to seek out an advisor.  In addition, general information is given to students in the “core classes” (Biol 200, 201, 202, and 300).

Pre-professional students:  Approximately 75% of our freshmen intend to pursue some degree related to medicine.  The department has a grant from the state (Office of Statewide planning and development) that supports advising for the pre-professional students (Jeff Thompson is the P.I.).  Jeff holds workshops where freshman can attend and receive information concerning the requirements for applying to various pre-professional programs.  Of those students who are biology majors, Jeff gives them information about the coursework within the major.  Students who are majors in other departments (e.g. Chemistry) are instructed to meet with an advisor in their department.  In addition, students can access information about degree requirements for various programs through the departmental web-site.

Chemistry

The Chemistry Department has one of the most extensive Student Advising Programs at the University. Chemistry Majors are advised throughout the Chemistry Degree to assists them in progressing through the chemistry program in a timely manner.

All declared chemistry majors enrolled in the University are sent a letter during the spring quarter informing them of the Departments Advising Requirements.  This letter informs them that they must see their Chemistry Advisor before they will be allowed to enroll in any courses at CSUSB in the fall term (see attachment 1). All majors are sent this letter every spring quarter and all majors have an advisement hold.  After academic advisement, students are given an academic clearance form that is forwarded to the department secretary who removes the academic hold.  Once advised, students are cleared to enroll.  This letter states the importance of advising in the Chemistry Program.

During advisement, each Chemistry Major is assigned a Faculty Advisor (see attachment 2) who helps students plan their academic program.  Advising schedule sheets are posted outside each faculty office during advisement week, typically the 4^th -5^th weeks of each academic quarter, where students can make an appointment to speak with their advisor.  Advisors use Program Outline Sheets (see attachment 3 for BA CHEMISTRY, BA Chemistry-Biochemistry option, BS Chemistry, BS Chemistry-Biochemistry Option) to summarize student’s academic course work needed for their degree.  Student’s four-year program is tracked with the Chemistry Advising Worksheet.

Computer Science

Students with a major in computer science are mailed a letter during Spring Term indicating that they need to meet with the chair or other faculty within the department for advising.  Peer tutoring (by upper division students) for those majors with lower GPA is arranged by the faculty in charge of the mentoring program.

The computer sciences department has a MII grant (Minority Institutional Infrastructure) grant from the NSF to inspire students to enter a graduate program after graduation. This 5 year grant started in 1998.  A major part of this grant is to get students into the research labs.  Therefore, all students must select a faculty mentor to direct the research project as well as serve as an academic advisor. 

We provide help desks in the labs so students taking our introductory courses, CSCI 201 & 202, can get help immediately in writing their programming assignments/projects.  We monitor the progress of probation and re-admitted students.

Geology

Geology will be initiating mandatory advising starting with advising for the Winter Quarter 2003. A hold will be placed on registration until advising is completed.  We are also developing 4 and 2 year course sequences which will be available as hard copy and posted on our web page, to provide students with a guide on which courses to take and in which order to take them if they wish to graduate in 4 or 2 years. Information will also be sent to Community Colleges and posted on our web page to recommend potential transfer students to take their science requirements prior to entering CSUSB if they wish to graduate in 2 years.

Health Science

Students are required to select an advisor upon entering the department as a major.  Students are expected to consult with their advisor once/quarter.  As reported in the last 5-year self-study, roughly 80% of students seek advisement on a regular basis.  In efforts to increase this percentage, the department is going to mandatory advising for majors (yearly).  Students who are identified as “on probation” receive a letter from the chair inviting them to consult either their advisor or the chair for assistance.

Kinesiology

Kinesiology students are required to meet with their advisor every quarter.  The department office places a “hold” on each Kinesiology student’s registration material.  Each faculty member is assigned 30 students (plus or minus a few) and is available to meet with students for 2-3 weeks during advance registration.  We also meet with those students that do not participate in advance registration.  We meet with them as necessary.  That notwithstanding, we use academic advising as the time to review class schedules, monitor each student's academic progress, discuss career goals, and give direction and guidance as appropriate.

Math

Mandatory advising exists on an annual basis.  Graduate students are advised regularly by the Graduate Coordinator.  In addition, the math department works with the Computer Science and Physics departments to help advise students participating in the CSEM grant and with the Liberal Studies program regarding the mathematics concentration.

REU – (Research Experiences for Undergraduates in math) Grant from the NSF to support a summer research program for Math students from the State of California.  The goal is to allow students to conduct research at CSUSB (Grant plus matching funds from CSUSB supports the stipend and room/board for the students).  This grant supported 8 students (half from CSUSB) to participate in research during the summer 2001. 

Nursing

This department has group advising sessions every quarter.  Pre-nursing students are mailed letters notifying them of the upcoming sessions and faculty has open advising sessions twice a week for students to stop by as necessary.  Advising of the majors occurs, in part, within the upper division coursework.  This is effective since all majors take many of the same classes.

In addition to advising by faculty, the nursing department has upper division Nursing students help in advising and tutoring pre-nursing students. 

The nursing department received a 1-year grant from the California State Health Professions career opportunity program to develop a program for recruitment/retention of under-represented students in the BSN program.  This program has been renewed for the 2001-2002 academic year.

Physics

The physics department has the advantage of being relatively small, which encourages close interaction between the students themselves, and between students and faculty members.  The student study room offers a place for physics students to congregate in order to discuss physics problems, collaborate on homework assignments, or simply relax (food and beverages are available).  Its proximity to the faculty offices facilitates student-faculty interaction and provides a sense of community to physics students of all levels.  The Society of Physics Students, run by the students together with a faculty advisor, brings in outside speakers once a month for pizza and physics, and occasionally offers trips to places of interest to physicists in Southern California.

Thanks to the efforts of one of our faculty members we also have a well established internship program, which coordinates the hiring by local industries of physics students for summer jobs.  Often the students continue their employment with these companies after graduation, thereby contributing to their long term success in their field.  Within the department there are many opportunities for students to work closely with individual faculty members on various research projects.  A few of these positions are even paid, thanks to the grant activities of the faculty.

In order to register for the upper division physics classes, students are required to meet with an advisor.  The advising meeting provides the department faculty with an opportunity to monitor the student's progress, provide suggestions regarding which courses are appropriate, and help the student deal with various issues, including time management.

All these activities contribute to student retention by providing a positive atmosphere of industry and collegiality in the department.

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

In March, 2002, all departments in CSBS agreed to a new "retention advising plan."

Each department designates a "retention advisor," who will specialize in retention advising matters, and assist in "career" advising.  We will have a meeting this quarter with those 9 designated faculty members to cover points they should be doing in that role.

Five departments hold annual advising meetings or programs for students, mostly focusing on career advising.

We have expanded courses from CSBS that have SAIL adjunct sections with them, including some SSCI Capstone courses for the first time.